CH 43.1

Chapter 43. Proposal

“Screeee!”

A sudden cry echoed through the air and Bash jumped to his feet. Grabbing something nearby, he stood up, dropped to his knees, and drew the sword at his back.

“Geho… gabo, gahah…”

He spat out a large amount of water, coughing unconsciously. Bash wiped his mouth and looked around. The owner of the cry, the creature that made Bash jump, had to be there.

The place was probably on the edge of a cliff. The river’s growth limited visibility, but the water had risen to where the cliff had once been, and Bash was trapped in one of the trees growing on the edge. The forest stretched out in front of him, and three beings were visible. Two humans with their backs to him. The humans were facing a demonic beast. It was a demonic beast of about 5 meters, with the head of an eagle, the body of a lion, and huge wings: a griffin. Its cry should have frightened Bash.

The water spirit was trying to tell Bash something. He didn’t know what it was. Or maybe it was a dream he had while dying. Maybe it had nothing to tell him and was just saving him on a whim.

But Bash thought about the connection. What had happened in the water had a meaning. It was intuition, so to speak. And that intuition had saved him many times before.

Bash quickly surveyed the situation. Two people with their backs to him. One on their knees, bleeding. The other holding their shoulder to help them up.

Bash had seen this scene many times before. They had fought and lost. To the griffin. And now they were about to die.

Are you asking me to help these two…? Bash came to this conclusion immediately. Otherwise, it would not have led him to this place.

“Graaaaaaaaaaaaoooou!”

He let out a war cry. It was the griffin that moved the most in response to his sudden roar.

It lifted its head, which it had kept low in the direction of the two humans, and spotted Bash, the owner of the war cry.

A second later, it had Bash in its sights. Perhaps it saw Bash as the biggest threat here, or perhaps it thought its prey was about to be captured by another, and with a flap of its huge wings, it soared into the air and swooped down on Bash in a straight line. It had to be a young griffin. If it had been a cunning griffin, it would have fled without looking as soon as it saw Bash.

But either way, as long as Bash was ready to attack, the result was the same. Bash struck from above.

“Gugeh…” The griffin was sliced in half with a single blow. The beast fell into the muddy stream behind Bash, uttering a horrible scream that was hard to believe came from a griffin.

“…” Bash looked back after making sure the griffin did not come out of the muddy stream.

“…Huh?”

“What-what was…?”

There were three stunned people. The one kneeling with wounds all over his body was a boy. He had reddish-black skin and a horn sprouting from his forehead. He had the features of an ogre, but his body was small and thin for an ogre. Or perhaps he had a strong mixture of human blood.

Crouching beside the boy was a girl. She was an ogre, too, and probably still young. Her horns sprouted from her forehead, but they were still small, and her body was a size smaller than the boy’s. If he had to guess her age, he’d say she was ten.

And there was one more. There was a woman who had been hiding in the shadow of the griffin.

“What a great surprise. An Orc has emerged from the muddy waters.”

Despite what she said, the tone of her words was indifferent, no surprise in her voice. However, it was a beautiful voice, like the sound of bells, that made Bash’s heart tremble.

…What a beautiful voice.

The woman, who was probably human, stood with a sword.

…What a beautiful body!!!!

And what was most striking was her body. She had a slim silhouette. The contours of her buttocks and breasts were the most beautiful he had ever seen. The curves, neither too small nor too large, seemed to convey her natural grandeur, and the proportions made him want to embrace her. She was sexually attractive, but that wasn’t all.

She was strong.

From the shape of the muscles in her body, he could tell that she was a talented warrior.

Beautiful muscles. Not too many, but well developed. Muscles every warrior would want.

She was comparable to the human prince Nazar or the hero Leto. Or even better than Bash. A great body. The child she would have would definitely be strong. Orcs desired female knights because they knew that strong women bore strong children. It was their instinct to be intensely attracted to strong women.

All that was needed was an attractive face. But the face of the woman in front of him was hidden. A white cloth was wrapped around her face, covering everything but her eyes. This made it impossible to see what this woman with the best body looked like. But that probably didn’t mean much to Bash.

“Beautiful…” He realized that these words came out of his mouth spontaneously. Or maybe it was his recent experience with other women that made him say such flattering words. It was the result of training.

“Beautiful…?”

The woman looked around and pointed at herself in case he meant her. Bash nodded his head. There was no other woman. There was an ogre girl, but she was too young to be a woman.

“Hahaha, Orc. How do you know I’m beautiful without looking at my face?” The woman laughed, but her tone was still indifferent. It was as if she had been told an unfunny joke.